The Bacon avocado harvest has come to a standstill in southern Spain due to a lack of demand because of supply pressure from third countries. The Hass campaign will start in around two weeks' time.
"We started with the Bacon avocado harvest around 20 days ago, but the good demand and sales ground to a halt after the first 10 days of the season," says Fernando Martín, manager of the Granada-based cooperative Bio Procam, based in Motril.
"European markets have an abundant supply of green skin avocados from third countries at lower prices, such as Bacon from Morocco or Ettinger from Israel," says Martín.
© BioProcam
"There is still unharvested Bacon production on the trees while large European distributors are already asking about the Spanish Hass campaign, which will start in week 47 in the earliest areas. We are thus not sure whether we'll be able to sell all the Bacon we have left. We are not talking about a large crop compared to the Hass, but it would still be very damaging for the growers producing it," says Martin.
"And the fact is that, unlike the Fuerte variety, which can be kept on the tree for longer and sold whenever you get a marketing opportunity, the Bacon has to be harvested on time," he says.
This year, the avocado production is expected to grow in Spain, but also in Morocco, which has become one of the main competitors for Spanish avocados, and which has doubled its production in the 2024/2025 season.
"At the moment, there are large-sized Chilean and Mexican avocados available, but we are already receiving calls from clients interested in our organic Hass avocados, so we hope to start with good demand," says Fernando Martín.
Bio Procam produces and sells organic avocado and mango, as well as organic vegetables, mainly cucumber and tomato, as well as zucchini, eggplant, beans and, to a lesser extent, peppers, which it sells in various European countries, as well as in the domestic market.
"Several European countries to which we export have had longer than usual seasons this year due to the good weather, while the production of our crops in Granada has been accelerated by temperatures that are too warm for this time of year," says Martín.
"Nonetheless, sales are progressing smoothly at the moment," he says. "We have already had good volumes of cucumber for a couple of weeks now and we have also started with zucchini and eggplant. This week we are also starting with tomato."
For more information:
Fernando Martín
BIO PROCAM
Ctra. Almeria km. 1,6 - Motril (Granada). Spain
Tel.: +34 958600306
[email protected]
www.procamsca.com
